Proposing the proposal
by Annn99
Summary: Missing scene from "In the Wind": Neal proposes Sara his proposal plan... not riddles, just fluff!


**Hi, this is just a short story, missing scene of how Neal explained to Sara his plan to propose at the Empire State... Can't help it, I love them together. Let me know your thoughts!**

**Spoilers for Season 4 "In the Wind"**

* * *

As Mozzie and James left Neal's apartment after discussing their plan inspired by champagne, Neal felt very satisfied: The plan was brilliant and his father was going to be free after recovering the evidence box. There was nothing more exciting for him than the prospect of his father finally being able to settle down and restart his life, next to his son. Neal couldn't help but grin at the mere thought of it.

Now there was only one thing missing from his plan: he had to get the ring for Sara and of course, get her to agree to his plan.

With a big smile on his face, he went to get the ring from June while handling back Bugsy. With the huge diamond rock in his hands, he now just had to tell Sara so he headed to Sterling Bosh's offices…

"Sara? There's a very handsome man looking for you" said Patricia, Sara's now former assistant, with a giddy grin plastered on her face "I mean, like seriously handsome, GQ model handsome"

Sara rolled her eyes. Patricia was the type to ogle over those stupid magazines all the time and easily impressed with any men "If he doesn't have an appointment, then I don't have time" she said distracted with some papers, she had a lot of pending issues to be resolved before her departure tomorrow "Who is he, anyway?" she asked not really paying attention

"Didn't say his name…" said Patricia sheepishly "But he insisted on seeing you specifically so… why if you are such a bitchy person, you always get the handsome ones?" she said gaining a frown from Sara. Since Patricia had learned of Sara's new promotion, she had become more of a perky friend than an assistant and felt free of teasing her and making those comments that were absolutely out of the table when she was her boss. Sara didn't mind most of the time but now she just didn't have the patience… Patricia seemed to enjoy this banter too much so she just kept pressing on "Oh c'mon Sara, at least introduce me to him!"

"How am I gonna introduce you if I don't even know who he is?!" said Sara getting tired of this, plus she was hungry "I'm going out for lunch, you introduce yourself to him" she finally said grabbing her purse and heading out her office

"Neal! What are you doing here?" she said surprised to see Neal, hands in his back, looking innocent and perfect in Sterling Bosh's waiting area

"Hi Sara, can I take you out for lunch?" he said with a sweet smile

"Hell yes, I'm starving!" she said grabbing Neal's arm and suddenly saw Patricia out of the corner of her eye with a desperate look on her face and dreamy eyes… she understood now "hold on, come with me first"

"Neal, I want to introduce you to Patricia, she was my former assistant and now apparently a fan of yours" said Sara smugly making Patricia blush. She almost felt guilty for embarrassing her but not that much since she had been harassing her too much lately

Neal smirked and enjoyed this playful and almost bitchy side of Sara, so he went and shook Patricia's blushing hand being his usual charming-self "Hi, nice to meet you, Patricia, nice to see I have a fandom here… I'm Neal Caffrey… you know, the abandoned boyfriend?" he said this last part whispering to Patricia but loud enough for Sara to hear

Sara gasped and swapped his arm "Shut up, Caffrey. Feed me now"

"Yes ma'am. Bye Patricia!" said Neal while being pulled by Sara and heading for the elevator

Sara pressed the Lobby button and felt Neal's hands on her hips and his lips on her neck. She couldn't help a moan that escaped from deep inside her throat "Neal…" she said attempting to sound menacing

Neal ignored her menacing voice, as usual, and just turned her around and pressed her to the elevator wall with a not so gentle push, trapping her lips with his while tangling his hands on her hair. Sara could do nothing but follow-up and cooperate by wrapping her leg around his hips and getting a full grasp of his shirt for balance.

They parted breathless and disheveled. Neal bit gently her lower lip grinning mischievously "Hi" he said

"Wow… what was that?" she asked breathless and completely unfocused.

"I'm just happy to see you" he said nonchalantly helping her to rearrange her clothing and hair to its perfect previous state. He stepped aside just in time for the elevator to reach the lobby and he grabbed her hand pulling her outside as if nothing had happened.

Sara welcomed the fresh air on her heated skin "Is this your way of saying good bye in advance? Because if that's the case, I might just prolong my departure for a couple of months" she said smiling

"This is how I could greet you every day for lunch if you stayed" he challenged back with a smirk

Sara smiled knowing that it was a nice fantasy but unfortunately, only that, a fantasy.

They arrived to a little home-made Italian restaurant they both loved right around the corner of 62th and 3rd to grab their favorite ravioli and minestrone soup, all creations of Chef Sandro.

"We should do this more often…" said Sara smiling from under her lashes, sad all of a sudden remembering they didn't have many chances left to do it "I mean, having lunch, it's nice"

Neal smiled and drank some wine. He placed his elbows on top of the table and leaned his chin on top of his hands looking at her with a sweet little smile.

"What?" said Sara nervously "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I would love to do this every day for the rest of my life actually" he said looking at her with a serious look

Sara laughed "Yeah, as if in living happily ever after?" she said laughing some more

Neal smiled too but not finding this so funny. He knew very well what he was about to ask Sara and he suddenly got sweaty hands and felt his stomach do a summersault. For a con, it was easy to do but this was Sara, not just any woman…

"Yeah, we've done it before, remember? Mr and Mrs Wellington?" he said trying to break the tension in his own nerves

Sara snorted "Of course I remember, Junior. It's been the best shotgun marriage I've had"

"Well, how about we do it one more time?" he said smiling and tilting his head questioning

Sara stopped smiling and frowned a little amused "What do you mean?"

Neal cleared his throat "I have a plan to retrieve the evidence box and set my father free but I need to propose to you at the Empire State observatory deck for my plan to work"

Sara raised her eyebrows in shock "What?! How exactly is that going to help your father?"

"I got the special engagement package arranged so that when you say yes, we go to celebrate to the 83th floor with a bottle of champagne, which I'm going to use as a remote control blimp to transport the box to my apartment before the FBI finds it" explained Neal

Sara just frowned further and had her lips partially opened in disbelief "Neal, that is like the craziest idea I've ever heard… is it going to even work?"

"Only if you say yes" he said with a smile

"And what if I were already in London, would you have asked Alex maybe?" she challenged only half joking; Sara always had a ping of jealousy for Alex.

"No, you are my only option" he said without hesitation and then added "Or June"

Sara chuckled and shook her head still not believing this preposterous plan

"I know this means that I'm making you an accomplice in all this but I intend to make it as real as possible but I understand if you don't want to, I know it's a lot to ask…" he rambled on with a slight tone of fear in his voice

Sara saw raw vulnerability in his eyes and she knew that even when this implied becoming an accomplice, she would do anything for this man, plus, she had helped him before by escaping with the Raphael. It was one of the best things of being with Neal, it was always an adventure. She sighed looking serious and pretending to be in denial but then she looked up grinning and said "Of course I'm in, Junior"

Neal's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he gave her a full mega-watt smile. He reached for her hand to kiss it "Thank you so much, Sara"

They finished their meal happily and began walking hand in hand back to Sterling Bosh's office

"So, who's gonna be proposing tomorrow?" she asked all of a sudden

"What do you mean who? Me!" said Neal a little offended

"You Neal? Or You Frank Wellington? Or You Steve Tabernacle?" she asked amused

Neal did a silent "ooohh" and then frowned "I haven't thought about that but I figured I should do it as myself. I don't think the FBI will be checking the records of people requesting the engagement package"

"I think you should use an alias, just to be safe" she said shrugging her shoulders

"Yeah, maybe you're right… and how about you? Are you ok using your name?" he asked

"I wouldn't miss the chance of getting proposed with other name, this might be my last chance" she joked

"Oh come on, I'm sure there are plenty of tai chi masters willing to do it" he said joking as well

"I'm the one who's not willing to accept them" she said not joking as much anymore

Neal thought for a little while "I hope you're taking applications for conmen though…"

"Why? Know any who are interested?" she teased

"Yes, definitely, I do" he said very serious nodding his head firmly

She chuckled "At what time will you be home tonight?"

He smiled feeling very domestic with all this "I'm in house arrest remember? Peter said its best if I stay home so… how about I make you a nice dinner when you arrive and we celebrate"

She got quiet and looked down for a little while "That would be nice"

"What is it?" he asked lifting her chin up

She looked at him with sad eyes "My plane leaves tomorrow night"

Neal breathed in "I thought that… wow, didn't know it was so fast"

She smiled and leaned in for a small kiss "I'm gonna miss you Caffrey"

Neal just smiled deflecting his feelings and not wanting to make eye contact right now "Hey, don't start with that now, we still have a lot going on today and tomorrow, the big day at the Empire State, remember?"

She nodded "Yeah, I'll dress nice for the occasion"

"You always look beautiful to me" he said and kissed her again. They lingered there not moving

"You better get me a huge rock, Caffrey" she said sniffing a little when they parted

"Of course, you'll have the ring you deserve… and not stolen, I promise" he said smiling knowingly; June's ring was definitely huge.

She laughed at that, liberating some of the accumulated tension she had on her shoulders "I better get back at the office. See you later tonight"

Neal just waved his hand at her and put his hands on his pockets watching her walk back to the revolving doors of the building. He put on his hat and walked back home patting the ring on his breast pocket. He now had to figure out his speech for tomorrow…

Whatever happened after tomorrow, he felt happy to have Sara close to him. He knew she was someone who always would be a very important part of his life.


End file.
